How and why people differ, and the enduring patterns of:
Thought
Feeling
Motivation
Behaviour
expressed in different circumstances. There are 3 main perspectives of personality, biatches.
Psychodynamic (According to Sigmund Freud, the mack-daddy of psychology)
Our personalities are broken up into 3 main components:
Unconscious: The majority of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. The belief that most of our feelings, emotions, beliefs and impulses are not available at our conscious level.
Conscious: Everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. The belief is that it makes up a very small part of who we, as people (yes, even Sam), are. We are only aware of a minuscule amount of the make-up of our personality - the rest is inaccessible.
Preconscious: The part we can access when prompted, but is not a part of our active conscious. Things such as phone numbers, childhood memories (good ol' Super Nintendo!), and names of people from yonks ago are stored hither.
All of these components relate to what Freud believes is our personality - these include:
ID (Unconscious): Totally unconscious instincts, that relate to pleasure. Whatever feels good, with no questions asked. Most like Sam.
Ego (Preconscious): Gauges reality and utilises reasoning in decision-making. The ego's role is to meet demands of ID, whilst taking into account the reality involved. Most like Morgan
Superego (Conscious): The only part that takes into account ethics and morals, is developed by moral teachings from parents. Most like Chris. The dominant component is seen as our personality - Sam is ID due to his lack of reasoning and morals, Morgan is Ego because he uses reasoning to justify desires, and Chris is superego because he's such a moral bad-ass. I'll leave it to some other mofo to do the iceberg analogy.
Psychosexual Development
Attempts to explain development of personality through the understanding of how sexual instincts are satisfied. (Insert smutty innuendo here)
5 predetermined stages, that if any one is not completed properly, one becomes fixated on that zone for life, either over or under-indulging when adulthood is reached.
Oral: Birth-18 months - focus is mouth, pleasure is achieved through sucking, biting, etc. problem habits include: smoking, kissing overeating, alcoholism, etc.
Anal: 18 months-3years - focus is the arse and doing number 1s and craps, relates to children learning to hold on or let go, problems involve hoarding, stingy, disorderly, destructive, etc.
Phallic: 3-6 years - focus is the genital region, develop fondness towards parent of opposite sex, problem is that child may not develop conscience. What the f...?
Latency: 6-puberty - sexuality becomes dormant for approx 6 years, psychosexual development halts here.
Genital: Puberty-adult, take a guess where the focus is ladies and gentlemen, sees sexual relationships develop, conflicts of puberty are an indication of previously unresolved conflicts reappearing.
Key Ideas Behind Freud's Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
Level of fixation
Defence Mechanisms most used, e.g. repression - bottling distressing feelings/thoughts in unconscious
Which structure of one's unconsciousness is dominant
Criticisms of the Crazy Bastard's Theory
Very narrow focus - childhood experiences and SEX!!!
Based theories on small, unrepresentative samples of disturbed individuals (his kids)
Many of the concepts are not directly testable, little scientific evidence to support theory
Humanistic (Carl Rogers)
Asserts that all people are motivated to reach their full potential
Empathy is most basic tool in understanding personality
Rogers' approach was supportive, warm, and based on feelings
Rogers was behind the 'self-concept' theory, which is the mental picture one has of themselves. To grow and be self-actualised, three conditions need to be met:
Genuineness: Need to be open, and remove façade
Acceptance: "Unconditional positive regard"
Empathic: Listen for meaning, put yourself in others' shoes
Positive self-concept = positive view in life, courageous, in control, happy. Negative self-concept = negative view on life, unhappy, dissatisfied, unworthy, cynical
Incongruence: The gap between self-concept and reality.
Unconditional love from parents during childhood fosters congruence
Conditional love fosters incongruence, people distort experiences to fit self-concept to feel accepted.
This leads to anxiety (conflict) and defensiveness.
Criticisms of Humanistic Theory
Naive assumptions of human nature (face it, we're not all good people!)
Suffers from poor testability
Most Humanist theorists not interested in scientific evidence, therefore little evidence
Does not attempt to account for all human personality = narrowness in theory
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Looks at understanding the structure/development of personality considering one's needs and motivations at a given time.
Maslow states 2 areas of need: deficiency needs and growth needs.
Deficiency Needs: Each need must be met before moving to a higher level of need. Once these needs have been satisfied, if a deficiency is detected later on, the individual will act upon it. First 4 needs.
Growth Needs: Can only be acted upon if the former needs are met. Last 4 needs.
The needs are as follows, from lowest to highest:
Physiological Needs: Food, water, sleep, etc. if we get sick, we prioritise getting better
Safety: Protection, security, keeping from harm.
Belonging and Love: Acceptance, relationships, etc.
Esteem: Self-respect, achieving, gaining recognition, etc.
Understanding: Need to know and understand.
Aesthetic: Need for aesthetic beauty.
Self-Actualisation: Realising own potential.
Transcendence: Helping others achieve potential.
Trait Perspective
A personality trait is an enduring characteristic of the person that influences their behaviour.
These traits describe and predict behaviour
Two main types of traits:
Cardinal Traits: Apply to a wide range of situations - lack of self-awareness
Secondary Traits: Are more specific traits - shows empathy towards others
Hans Eysenck - Hierarchy of Traits
Believed personality as being innate and genetically determined
Personality differences grow out of our gentic inheritance
He was a hardcore behaviourist
All traits derive from a handful of higher order traits: Extroversion/Introversion, Neuroticism, and psychoticism.
The 5 Factor Theory - OCEAN (McCrae & Costa)
Assesses personality traits based on 5 main factors:
Openness: Whether a person is open to new experiences
Conscientiousness: Whether a person is disciplined and responsible
Extroversion: Whether a person is sociable, outgoing and affectionate.
Agreeableness: Whether a person is cooperative, trusting and helpful.
Neuroticism: Whether a person is unstable and prone to insecurity.
Projective Tests (Psychodynamic)
Respond to ambiguous stimuli - stories made up about pictures, expressing oneself through drawings
Are a reflection of the 'unconscious mind' - intended to reveal unconscious themes
Personality
How and why people differ, and the enduring patterns of:- Thought
- Feeling
- Motivation
- Behaviour
expressed in different circumstances. There are 3 main perspectives of personality, biatches.Psychodynamic (According to Sigmund Freud, the mack-daddy of psychology)
Our personalities are broken up into 3 main components:
Unconscious: The majority of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. The belief that most of our feelings, emotions, beliefs and impulses are not available at our conscious level.
Conscious: Everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. The belief is that it makes up a very small part of who we, as people (yes, even Sam), are. We are only aware of a minuscule amount of the make-up of our personality - the rest is inaccessible.
Preconscious: The part we can access when prompted, but is not a part of our active conscious. Things such as phone numbers, childhood memories (good ol' Super Nintendo!), and names of people from yonks ago are stored hither.
All of these components relate to what Freud believes is our personality - these include:
ID (Unconscious): Totally unconscious instincts, that relate to pleasure. Whatever feels good, with no questions asked. Most like Sam.
Ego (Preconscious): Gauges reality and utilises reasoning in decision-making. The ego's role is to meet demands of ID, whilst taking into account the reality involved. Most like Morgan
Superego (Conscious): The only part that takes into account ethics and morals, is developed by moral teachings from parents. Most like Chris.
The dominant component is seen as our personality - Sam is ID due to his lack of reasoning and morals, Morgan is Ego because he uses reasoning to justify desires, and Chris is superego because he's such a moral bad-ass.
I'll leave it to some other mofo to do the iceberg analogy.
Psychosexual Development
Attempts to explain development of personality through the understanding of how sexual instincts are satisfied. (Insert smutty innuendo here)5 predetermined stages, that if any one is not completed properly, one becomes fixated on that zone for life, either over or under-indulging when adulthood is reached.
Oral: Birth-18 months - focus is mouth, pleasure is achieved through sucking, biting, etc. problem habits include: smoking, kissing overeating, alcoholism, etc.
Anal: 18 months-3years - focus is the arse and doing number 1s and craps, relates to children learning to hold on or let go, problems involve hoarding, stingy, disorderly, destructive, etc.
Phallic: 3-6 years - focus is the genital region, develop fondness towards parent of opposite sex, problem is that child may not develop conscience. What the f...?
Latency: 6-puberty - sexuality becomes dormant for approx 6 years, psychosexual development halts here.
Genital: Puberty-adult, take a guess where the focus is ladies and gentlemen, sees sexual relationships develop, conflicts of puberty are an indication of previously unresolved conflicts reappearing.
Key Ideas Behind Freud's Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
Criticisms of the Crazy Bastard's Theory
Humanistic (Carl Rogers)
- Asserts that all people are motivated to reach their full potential
- Empathy is most basic tool in understanding personality
- Rogers' approach was supportive, warm, and based on feelings
Rogers was behind the 'self-concept' theory, which is the mental picture one has of themselves.To grow and be self-actualised, three conditions need to be met:
Positive self-concept = positive view in life, courageous, in control, happy.
Negative self-concept = negative view on life, unhappy, dissatisfied, unworthy, cynical
Incongruence: The gap between self-concept and reality.
Criticisms of Humanistic Theory
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Looks at understanding the structure/development of personality considering one's needs and motivations at a given time.Maslow states 2 areas of need: deficiency needs and growth needs.
Deficiency Needs: Each need must be met before moving to a higher level of need. Once these needs have been satisfied, if a deficiency is detected later on, the individual will act upon it. First 4 needs.
Growth Needs: Can only be acted upon if the former needs are met. Last 4 needs.
The needs are as follows, from lowest to highest:
Trait Perspective
A personality trait is an enduring characteristic of the person that influences their behaviour.Hans Eysenck - Hierarchy of Traits
All traits derive from a handful of higher order traits: Extroversion/Introversion, Neuroticism, and psychoticism.
The 5 Factor Theory - OCEAN (McCrae & Costa)
Assesses personality traits based on 5 main factors:Projective Tests (Psychodynamic)
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Examples:
Self Report Measures - Questionnaires (Humanistic/Trait)
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Examples:
Standardisation
Reliability
Validity
Positives of Trait Theory
Criticisms of Trait Theory